America's 100 Must See Exhibits

[Moebelle]

100. Teton Trek
Memphis Zoo, TN
Opened: 2009
Size: 3.5 Acres (1.3 Hectares)
Inhabitants: Grizzly Bear, American Black Bear, Timber Wolf, American Elk, North American Porcupine, Sandhill Crane and assorted waterfowl.

Many zoos have loosely modeled exhibits after national parks, but few attempt to genuinely replicate real elements of the park itself. As to be expected from Memphis, no expense is spared on going over-the-top with thematic recreations of Yellowstone National Park's most iconic features, geysers included. The showstopper is the enormous lodge structure modeled after the Old Faithful Inn that serves as both an imposing backdrop and a high quality event pavilion. Everything down to the enclosure design is done with the real park in mind and it shows. The centerpiece of the complex is a wide open meadow rotated between grizzlies and black bears, which can be overlooked by the great lodge. It's impossible to ignore a striking 20 foot tall interpretation of Wyoming's Firehole Falls, which creates a lengthy stream running through the center of the habitat. The other enclosures for some of the region's most well known species such as elk, wolves and birds are successful because of their simplicity, incorporating the surrounding forest, proving that man-made elements can blend in nicely with nature. There is also a somewhat unbecoming chain-link pen for porcupines which appears very functional compared to the rest of the complex. It's the one outlier in what's otherwise a carefully created exhibit that manages to be a surprisingly faithful (pun unintended) recreation of the world's first national park.

@Moebelle

@Moebelle

@ZooNerd1234

@geomorph

@ZooNerd1234

@ZooNerd1234

Spoiler: Photo Key

1. Lodge with Bear Exhibit
2. Waterfall with Bear Exhibit
3. Grizzly Bear and American Black Bear Exhibit
4. Elk Exhibit
5. Timber Wolf Exhibit
6. Waterfowl Pond

Similar Exhibits: None.

Out of everything, vs all other 99 entries, this is the one I was most hoping to make the list.

 

[Julio C Castro]

I want to thank you @pachyderm pro for creating this wonderful thread. I was able to learn about so many exhibits I’ve never heard of and will be using it as a friendly guide when I’m able to explore more zoos around the states. It was truly a Herculean task you undertook and truly appreciate that I was able to have something fun to look forward to in my graveyard shifts There are a couple I did not make it but at the end of the day, I felt I was learning the different reasons for their inclusions and varying opinions many of our fellow Zoochatters had on the entries. Perhaps one of my favorite threads since joining a few years ago! An amazing job well done

 

[CGSwans]

Thank you and congrats, @pachyderm pro.

 

[SwampDonkey]

At last, the list is now complete! It's been quite the ride and it's pretty crazy we've reached the end. A total of 50 zoos were represented, 38 of which were also featured on America’s 50 Must-see zoos. Here is a breakdown of the number of selections each zoo had.

7 Exhibits: Bronx Zoo, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo
6 Exhibits: San Diego Zoo
5 Exhibits: Saint Louis Zoo
—————————————————————————————————————————
3 Exhibits: Cincinnati Zoo, Columbus Zoo, Detroit Zoo, Houston Zoo, Memphis Zoo, Zoo Miami, Nashville Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Shedd Aquarium, Woodland Park Zoo
2 Exhibits: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Brookfield Zoo, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Denver Zoo, Indianapolis Zoo, Lincoln Park Zoo, Minnesota Zoo, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Smithsonian National Zoo
1 Exhibit: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Zoo Atlanta, California Academy of Sciences, Dallas Zoo, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Duke Lemur Center, Fort Worth Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Henry Vilas Zoo, International Crane Foundation, Kansas City Zoo, Zoo Knoxville, Los Angeles Zoo, Maryland Zoo, Milwaukee County Zoo, National Aquarium, New York Aquarium, North Carolina Zoo, Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, Oakland Zoo, Oklahoma City Zoo, Oregon Coast Aquarium, Phoenix Zoo, Racine Zoo, Tennessee Aquarium, The Living Desert

As you can see, Bronx and Omaha dominated this thread with seven entries each. San Diego wasn’t far behind with six exhibits, trailed by Saint Louis with five exhibits. These four collections made up exactly a quarter of the selections on this list and while that may seem like a lot, that shouldn't be surprising. They represent the very best the United States has to offer when it comes to famous, unique, historic, and generally high quality exhibits.

The list may be done, but this thread isn’t quite finished yet. There’s still multiple posts worth of honorable mentions coming up as well as a final concluding post which will include additional summary statistics and a little something else. Numerous times over the course of this thread the topic of subjectivity was brought up. While I tried to remain as objective as possible when putting this list together, I realize we all have different tastes and experiences that define what makes a “must-see” exhibit. So, I decided to create a poll asking for your input. The poll asks if you agree or disagree on the inclusion of all 100 exhibits in the order they were presented on this thread. At the very end of the poll is an open-ended question: if you could include one more exhibit on this list, what would it be? It should only take a few minutes to complete and I highly encourage participants to give their thoughts. The results of the poll will be revealed in the closing summary post.

America's 100 Must-see Exhibits: The Community Vote

Seriously, thanks for taking the extraordinary amount of time and effort that you did to complete this. It has been so much fun and I really have enjoyed all of your entries.

 

[Blackleopard207]

Yes, thanks a lot! This thread was really well done and you put a lot of time into this!

 

[Philipine eagle]

Excellent work!

In an initial, very quick, comparision, it seems to me that only 6 out of 100 exhibits are located in minor/less known institutions: Alaska wildlife conservation, California Academy of Science, Maryland Zoo, Racine Zoo, Northwest Trek, Oregon Coast Aquarium and Tennessee Aquarium.
While in @lintworm European thread this is 20/100.

One can of course argue a bit about which zoo is less known.

 

[birdsandbats]

Excellent work!

In an initial, very quick, comparision, it seems to me that only 6 out of 100 exhibits are located in minor/less known institutions: Alaska wildlife conservation, California Academy of Science, Maryland Zoo, Racine Zoo, Northwest Trek, Oregon Coast Aquarium and Tennessee Aquarium.
While in @lintworm European thread this is 20/100.

One can of course argue a bit about which zoo is less known.

It depends on how you define minor/less known. Do Henry Vilas and ICF not qualify?

 

[Aardwolf]

It depends on how you define minor/less known. Do Henry Vilas and ICF not qualify?

I know I'd certainly consider Henry Vilas to be less well-known than Maryland Zoo. As fantastic as a facility as it is, I'm also not sure how well-known Living Desert is to the general public outside of southern California.

 

[lintworm]

Congratulations on a job well done, you made it to the end . Let's see if it gives you a thread of the year nomination, but will it win

 

[biggest_dreamer]

I’ve seen a grand total of 13 out of the 100. Clearly, I have a lot of work to do.

 

[twilighter]

You put another Milestone in ZooChat @pachyderm pro. Great achievement! I have seen only 16 of your choices and my wishlist dangerously grown.

 

[Joseph G]

Cheers to you, @pachyderm pro! I have no idea what I'm going to look forward to in the mornings anymore. This has been a ton of fun to follow and though it's gotten a little hostile at times, there's been some fun discourse to certainly kept some of us less frequent posters engaged on the site.

 

[15399]

Overall, this has been a great list by @pachyderm pro! After the first entry, I made a list guessing what exhibits would be included. 57/99 of the exhibits I guessed were ultimately included on this final list. While that number may first seem on the low side, many of the exhibits I did not guess correctly are entries I actually agree with- but were either incredible exhibits I wasn't aware of (particularly in Western zoos), didn't think were eligible (Galapagos and National's Bird House), or non-traditional exhibits I completely overlooked (e.g. Duke Lemur Center and International Crane Foundation. All in all, I agree with almost the entire list, with 87/100 being entries I agree with, and only thirteen that I actively disagree with. While I doubt many would be interested in reading my initial list, I will go through the thirteen choices I disagree with as well as what I'd put in their places.

The thirteen exhibits I disagree with are:

• Gharial Pond, San Diego Zoo
• Wisconsin Heritage, Henry Vilas Zoo
• Herpetarium, Saint Louis Zoo
• Stork Aviary, Racine Zoo
• Life on the Rocks, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
• Penguin and Puffin Coast, Saint Louis Zoo
• CHINA, Memphis Zoo
• Mouse House, Bronx Zoo
• Elephant House, Cincinnati Zoo
• Wolf Woods, Brookfield Zoo
• Hummingbird Habitat, San Diego Zoo
• Predator/Prey Exhibits, Milwaukee County Zoo
• Reptile House, Cincinnati Zoo

In their places I would add:

• Caribbean Coast, Stone Zoo- This gorgeous aviary would, in my opinion, be a worthy inclusion on this list due to the rarity of walk-through aviaries for flamingos- with way too many zoos displaying them in open-topped pools.
• Chihuahan Desert, El Paso Zoo- An incredible, unique take on a native-species zone, focused on the wildlife of deserts.
• African Journey, Lincoln Park Zoo- An excellent, creative exhibit that shows how zoos can make an innovative use of historic buildings for modern, state-of-the-art exhibits.
• Arctic Coast, Mystic Aquarium- I would argue this is the greatest cetacean exhibit in the US.
• Australian Adventure, The Living Desert- With how common kangaroo walk-throughs are, and how unique this exhibit is, I think it warrants its inclusion on the list. Only two Australia exhibits made the list (one of which was in an aquarium), despite how common of a style of exhibits this is.
• Wildlife Explorer's Basecamp, San Diego Zoo- Children's zoos are a ubiquitous style of zoo exhibits, and despite how criticized they sometimes are on this site, I think this exhibit, arguably the country's greatest children's zoo, would have been a worthy inclusion.
• Sanctuary Asia, Oklahoma City Zoo- Already mentioned as a similar exhibit, I would consider this exhibit impressive enough in its own right to be elevated to the status of being included on this list.
• Macaque Forest, Lincoln Park Zoo- I may just be biased since Japanese macaques are one of my favorite species, but this is an impressive habitat highlighting a species that often doesn't get featured prominently in zoos.
• Zoo360 Trails, Philadelphia Zoo- While I have been critical of these trails in the past, their innovation is undeniable, and they have spurred a number of other zoos to feature overhead trails in various capacities.
• Mexican Grey Wolf Habitat, Stone Zoo- I think this exhibit is marginally better than its counterpart at Brookfield Zoo, and it's also significant since it's rare for small zoos to dedicate multiple acres to a single species, making this my pick for the "wolf exhibit slot" on this list.
• Cypress Swamp, North Carolina Zoo- American alligators are a commonly highlighted species in zoos, and this is perhaps the best alligator exhibit in the country. While there is no shortage of incredible exhibits highlighting native species, I do think this exhibit is impressive enough to warrant an entry.
• Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, Disney's Animal Kingdom- This would be my pick for the country's greatest gorilla complex, and I think it's impressive enough and distinct enough from Congo Gorilla Forest that both deserve separate entries.
• Asian Forest Sanctuary, Point Defiance Zoo- These rotational exhibits were an innovative exhibit complex that highlights a style of exhibits absent from this list.

 

[Pleistocene891]

Just like I proposed at the half way mark, I think it would be fun if we each gave our top 10 exhibits on this list now that it's fully complete.
1. Bronx Zoo: Congo Gorilla Forest
2. Georgia Aquarium: Ocean Voyager
3. Bronx Zoo: World of Birds
4. Omaha Zoo: Kingdoms of the Night
5. Zoo Miami: Wings of Asia
6. Fort Worth Zoo: MOLA
7. Monterey Bay Aquarium: Kelp Forest
8. Omaha Zoo: African Grassland
9. Bronx Zoo Wild Asia Monorail
10. San Diego Zoo: Monkey Trails and Forest Tales

 

[birdsandbats]

Overall, this has been a great list by @pachyderm pro! After the first entry, I made a list guessing what exhibits would be included. 57/99 of the exhibits I guessed were ultimately included on this final list. While that number may first seem on the low side, many of the exhibits I did not guess correctly are entries I actually agree with- but were either incredible exhibits I wasn't aware of (particularly in Western zoos), didn't think were eligible (Galapagos and National's Bird House), or non-traditional exhibits I completely overlooked (e.g. Duke Lemur Center and International Crane Foundation. All in all, I agree with almost the entire list, with 87/100 being entries I agree with, and only thirteen that I actively disagree with. While I doubt many would be interested in reading my initial list, I will go through the thirteen choices I disagree with as well as what I'd put in their places.

The thirteen exhibits I disagree with are:

• Gharial Pond, San Diego Zoo
• Wisconsin Heritage, Henry Vilas Zoo
• Herpetarium, Saint Louis Zoo
• Stork Aviary, Racine Zoo
• Life on the Rocks, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
• Penguin and Puffin Coast, Saint Louis Zoo
• CHINA, Memphis Zoo
• Mouse House, Bronx Zoo
• Elephant House, Cincinnati Zoo
• Wolf Woods, Brookfield Zoo
• Hummingbird Habitat, San Diego Zoo
• Predator/Prey Exhibits, Milwaukee County Zoo
• Reptile House, Cincinnati Zoo

In their places I would add:

• Caribbean Coast, Stone Zoo- This gorgeous aviary would, in my opinion, be a worthy inclusion on this list due to the rarity of walk-through aviaries for flamingos- with way too many zoos displaying them in open-topped pools.
• Chihuahan Desert, El Paso Zoo- An incredible, unique take on a native-species zone, focused on the wildlife of deserts.
• African Journey, Lincoln Park Zoo- An excellent, creative exhibit that shows how zoos can make an innovative use of historic buildings for modern, state-of-the-art exhibits.
• Arctic Coast, Mystic Aquarium- I would argue this is the greatest cetacean exhibit in the US.
• Australian Adventure, The Living Desert- With how common kangaroo walk-throughs are, and how unique this exhibit is, I think it warrants its inclusion on the list. Only two Australia exhibits made the list (one of which was in an aquarium), despite how common of a style of exhibits this is.
• Wildlife Explorer's Basecamp, San Diego Zoo- Children's zoos are a ubiquitous style of zoo exhibits, and despite how criticized they sometimes are on this site, I think this exhibit, arguably the country's greatest children's zoo, would have been a worthy inclusion.
• Sanctuary Asia, Oklahoma City Zoo- Already mentioned as a similar exhibit, I would consider this exhibit impressive enough in its own right to be elevated to the status of being included on this list.
• Macaque Forest, Lincoln Park Zoo- I may just be biased since Japanese macaques are one of my favorite species, but this is an impressive habitat highlighting a species that often doesn't get featured prominently in zoos.
• Zoo360 Trails, Philadelphia Zoo- While I have been critical of these trails in the past, their innovation is undeniable, and they have spurred a number of other zoos to feature overhead trails in various capacities.
• Mexican Grey Wolf Habitat, Stone Zoo- I think this exhibit is marginally better than its counterpart at Brookfield Zoo, and it's also significant since it's rare for small zoos to dedicate multiple acres to a single species, making this my pick for the "wolf exhibit slot" on this list.
• Cypress Swamp, North Carolina Zoo- American alligators are a commonly highlighted species in zoos, and this is perhaps the best alligator exhibit in the country. While there is no shortage of incredible exhibits highlighting native species, I do think this exhibit is impressive enough to warrant an entry.
• Gorilla Falls Exploration Trail, Disney's Animal Kingdom- This would be my pick for the country's greatest gorilla complex, and I think it's impressive enough and distinct enough from Congo Gorilla Forest that both deserve separate entries.
• Asian Forest Sanctuary, Point Defiance Zoo- These rotational exhibits were an innovative exhibit complex that highlights a style of exhibits absent from this list.

Why on earth would you disagree with Saint Louis' Herpetarium?

 

[SusScrofa]

Very good job on this list, thank you for the effort.

 

[Great Argus]

Asian Forest Sanctuary, Point Defiance Zoo- These rotational exhibits were an innovative exhibit complex that highlights a style of exhibits absent from this list.

Having seen it in person, I wasn't tremendously impressed. Kind of leaves a lot to be desired, and doesn't seem the best tailored to some of the species it holds. It looks nice for the most part but it wasn't the favorite part of the zoo. Clouded Leopard exhibit is really good though I think.

 

[wild boar]

Why on earth would you disagree with Saint Louis' Herpetarium?

I will also never understand why anyone could disagree with the Bronx Zoo Mouse House entry.

 

[Aardwolf]

Like everyone else has said, thank you @pachyderm pro , that was a very fun and enjoyable list, and I'm sure many of us are sad it eventually had to end. Lots of great exhibits on there, very well thought out and articulated, even (or perhaps especially) the more controversial ones.

One exhibit that I think doesn't get enough love as a really incredible exhibit is the main alligator habitat at St. Augustine. When I went for the first time, I was mostly exciting about seeing all of the crocs that I hadn't seen before, and yes, that was really cool (though it must be admitted that a lot of their croc exhibits are pretty repetitive - but that main gator swamp blew me away. Just seeing SO MANY large alligators (and a few American crocs) in what was essentially a natural habitat, behaving was so cool. It's a species that so many zoos exhibit, but few really highlight as well in such a tremendous habitat. We're so used to thinking of alligators as inert logs that it was a real treat seeing so many natural behaviors - I saw mating, bellowing, basking, and even a little cannibalism (it happens). No fancy underwater viewing, but it was a very unique experience that I'm glad I've gotten to see a few times.

Of course, for most visitors the real highlight of the alligator exhibit wouldn't be the alligators - if you're lucky enough to visit during the nesting season, the birdlife in that habitat is astonishing. Walking down the boardwalk, it looked like the trees were decorated for Christmas, all covered with white and blue and pink birds.

 

[15399]

Why on earth would you disagree with Saint Louis' Herpetarium?

I will also never understand why anyone could disagree with the Bronx Zoo Mouse House entry.

Both of these ultimately come down to personal preferences for exhibits. I tend not to like taxonomic displays, and have emphasized this in the past. When I visited Saint Louis back in 2018, I also found the Herpetarium to be one of the least impressive parts of the zoo, although this was primarily due to the building's big crowd control issues and a layout that isn't conducive to the number of visitors that were present. Due to this, it simply wasn't an enjoyable experience to see this exhibit, and is one of those heavily praised exhibits on here that I don't understand the hype about. The exhibits in the Herpetarium also just seemed very repetitive, which is a common problem in reptile houses and why I'm not a fan of this exhibitry style overall (despite the fact I oftentimes really enjoy their inhabitants. As for the Mouse House, all the photos I've seen lead me to believe that the exhibitry is similarly very repetitive, like the Herpetarium. However, last time I visited the Bronx Zoo I was a first grader, and don't remember much at all. I will be visiting Bronx Zoo again soon, and I'll let you know if my perceptions of this exhibit change after seeing it in person.